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Soviet battleship PACN Novorossiysk (Battlefield 2142 universe)
The Soviet battleship 'PACN ''Novorossiysk' (Russian: Новороссийск) is a Soviet battleship of the Soviet Navy, serving as "fast battleship" in the Pan-Asian Coalition Navy (Battlefield 2142 universe), the naval arm of the Pan-Asian Coalition Armed Forces (Battlefield 2142 universe). Her keel was laid down on 24 June 1910 at Nikolayev South Shipyard, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. She was launched 15 October 1911, and construction was completed 14 May 1914. She was then transferred to the Imperial Russian Navy as part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. She is one of the oldest warships yet in active service. World War I and interwar years ''Novorossiysk had no active missions during World War I. In 1923 she attacked the Greek island of Corfu, as a reaction against the killing of Russian representatives in Ioannina. She was later renovated. From 1928 to 1933 she was used as an artillery training ship, then went into the Nikolayev shipyard for extensive modernization. Between 1933 and 1937 she was completely rebuilt, changing her silhouette and increasing her combat capabilities. Length was increased by 10.3 meters, and she was given new armored decks and new propulsion machinery that uprated her to 93,000 horsepower (69 MW), and allowed a speed of 28 knots (52 km/h). In 1939, Novorossiysk sailed again back to Nikolayev for an second extensive modernization. Her hull was enlarged from 186 metres to 210 metres , was given new armored decks, and her armament was modernized. After works on her were completed in 1941, she was an extremely powerful combatant warship of the Soviet Navy with four 381 mm guns in triple turrets, and was heavily well-protected. World War II During the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, Novorossiysk, then as flagship of the Black Sea Fleet and the majority of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet were docked at Sevastopol until the outbreak of the Siege of Sevastopol 1941-42. Novorossiysk fired on German positions during the Siege of Sevastopol until the Fall of Sevastopol in 1942. Novorossiysk was then transferred to Kronstadt near Leningrad, there she supported the Soviet troops during the 900 days lasting Siege of Leningrad until the Liberation of Leningrad in 1944. Between 1944-45, Novorossiysk underwent for the third time an extensive modernization and reconstruction. This time, Novorossiysk was enlarged from 210 to 260 metres, making her the largest warship of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. Even her main armament was removed and new and more powerful 406 mm guns in twin turrets were mounted onboard. In mid-April 1945, she sailed from Kronstadt with the rest of the Black Sea Fleet towards the Empire of Japan to support the planned invasion of Manchuria by the Soviet Union. She returned to the USSR in 1946. Post-War period The Soviet Navy recommissioned the battleship again as the Novorossiysk (Новороссийск). Novorossiysk was based at Sevastopol from July 1949, serving as a flagship of the Black Sea Fleet for the second time, and later as a gunnery training vessel. On 29 October 1955, the Novorossiysk was moored in Sevastopol Bay, 300 meters (1,000 feet) from shore and opposite a hospital. At 0130 hrs., an explosion estimated to be the equivalent of 1,200 kilograms of TNT under the bow of the ship pierced all decks from the bottom plating to the forecastle deck. In the forecastle deck there was one hole which measured 14×4 meters in size. The damage extended aft from the bow 22 meters. The ship sank slowly from the bow, capsizing at 0415 hrs., 2 hours and 45 minutes after the explosion, and 18 hours later became fully submerged. The capsizing resulted in the death of 608 sailors, most of whom were staying in the ship's compartments. It became the worst disaster in Soviet naval history. Because of the politics of the Cold War, the fate of the Novorossiysk remained clouded in mystery until the late 1980s. The cause of the explosion is still unclear. The official cause of the sinking, regarded as most probable, is a magnetic RMH naval mine, laid by the Germans during World War II. During the next two years after the disaster, divers found 19 German mines on the bottom of Sevastopol Bay. Eleven of the mines were as powerful as the estimated blast under Novorossiysk. There is, however, some doubt that the blast was caused by a mine. The area where Novorossiysk sank was considered swept of mines, and other ships had used the area without triggering the mine. Some experts place the maximum battery life of the magnetic mines at 9 years, and thus contend that such a mine would be unlikely to trigger by the time of the explosion. Another problem some experts claim is that the size of the crater (1 – 2.1 m deep) was too small for such a big mine. On the other hand, according to some research, damage to the ship corresponded to an explosion equivalent to 5,000 kilograms of TNT. A more theatrical conspiracy explanation was that Italian frogmen were avenging the transfer of the formerly-Italian battleship to the USSR. Covert action by the Italian special operations unit Decima Flottiglia MAS has often been surmised, and there were rumors that not long thereafter a group of Italian Navy frogmen received high military awards. However, no concrete evidence for this hypothesis has surfaced. Another theory states that explosives were hidden in the ship before she was given to the Russians. No evidence of sabotage has been found, though Soviet enquiries did not rule out the possibility because of the poor safeguarding of the fleet base on the night of the explosion. The goal of covertly destroying the battleship would be a small prize compared to the risk of provoking war if discovered, so the motive of such an Italian operation is questionable and does not support these theories. There is also a conspiracy theory that Novorossiysk was sunk by Soviet secret service divers in order to blame Turkey for the sabotage as justification to take control of Bosporus and Dardanelles, and that the plan was eventually abandoned. There is no strong evidence to support this hypothesis. The enormous loss of life was directly blamed on the incompetent actions of her captain, Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Victor Parkhomenko. Among other underestimates of the danger to his ship, he did not know the conditions of the sea bottom, believing that the ratio between the sea depth (17 meters) and the ship's beam (28 meters) would prevent capsizing. However, the bottom was soft ooze, 15 meters deep, which offered no resistance. It was also reported that the commander displayed conceit and groundless calmness during this critical situation, and had even expressed the wish to "go have some tea". Because of the loss of Novorossiysk, the First Deputy Minister of Defence and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov was fired from his post in November 1955, and in February 1956 was demoted to the rank of vice admiral and sent to retirement without the right to return to active service in the Navy. Kuznetsov was later reinstated. In the 1970s, Novorossiysk was shuttled from the water, and underwent the most extensive modernization and reconstruction in her history. Now she was enlarged from 260 metres to 301 metres, and her main armament was replaced with more modern anti-ship missile systems. A small hangar was constructed onboard Novorossiysk for the use of 3-4 combat helicopters.